STOCKTON – East Union won the Demolition Day Wrestling Tournament and the Lancers’ Jaysen Reindel was named Outstanding Upper-Weight Wrestler on Saturday at Stagg High School.
“The kids wrestled well,” East Union coach A.J. Reindel said. “I moved some JV kids up to varsity knowing that we might have a shot at winning the tournament. It was good to get some JV guys to fill in some spots.
“We had five in the finals but only one won, and that was a little disappointing. We had some guys lose early that I didn’t think would, but they came back and got third.”
Jaysen Reindel (220 pounds) went 3-0 with three first-round pins.
“My family was out here,” Jaysen Reindel said. “And that last match was kind of for them.”
Jason Betlej (126), Enrique Mendoza (132), Ajay Lopez (145), Joel Melena (182), and Apollo Holmes (195) finished second for the Lancers with Alan Huerta (152) and Ruben Gallegos (160) bringing home bronze medals and Levi Huffman (170) and Ryan Bussberg (113) finishing fourth.
All six Sierra wrestlers medaled.
“We took third place as a team in varsity while only filling six weight classes,” Timberwolves coach Alex Nuanez said.
Branden Rullan (132) and Davied Ketner (152) each won a gold medal for Sierra. Jordan Dollar (138) was second while Jackson Rusconi (113), Thomas Perez (120) and Amailo Durazo (285) finished third.
Rullan had a first-round pin in the finals.
“He was pretty strong,” Rullan said. “But when he went to go switch I caught him in a headlock and he slipped so I took him to his back.”
A senior, this was Ketner’s first gold medal.
“This is my first gold ever,” Ketner said. “I wrestled better than I expected. I’m just happy.”
Cristian Garcia (126) brought home a gold medal for Lathrop and Alejandro Tovar (220) a silver.
“It was a good day,” Lathrop coach Vince Garcia said. “The varsity wrestlers we brought did well and we took first place in the JV tournament.”
Cristian Garcia battled through a cold on the way to his first-place finish.
“I wrestled well, even though I had a cold,” Cristian Garcia said. “That didn’t stop me from doing my best. I just listened to my coaches in my corner and wrestled.”
Junior varsity
Mysson Harrell (126) led a contingent of five Spartans who won gold medals, earning the junior varsity MVP and leading Lathrop to the championship. Other Spartans JV wrestlers who finished first were Elijah Thomas (138), Josiah Acosta (145), Keanu Linnell (152) and Dominic Archibeaue (160).
Justin Diza (160) was second for Lathrop, Christian Dilim (170) third and Benjamin Adorno (170) fourth.
For Sierra Johnny Hosmer (113) was first, Oscar Guiltron (120) second and
Christopher Hutchinson (106) and Myson Hosmer (145) were fourth.
East Union finished third as a team.
Girls
Queen of the Mat
At Pittsburg High, Venture Academy’s Aysia Cortez (131) had a first-round bye before winning her next three matches by pins – the first two in less than a minute combined – to bring home a gold medal.